


a well worn book.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: captured moments. [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, One Shot Collection, Professor Ben Solo, Short One Shot, Waiters & Waitresses, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, second meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22273504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: He reached into his bag and pulled out his worn copy ofMacbeth, and he was ten pages past where his bookmark had been when Rey approached the table.  She set the milkshake and water down in front of him and smiled.“Macbeth, hm?”or:  Ben's back in the café and Rey is once again his waitress.  A conversation on Rey's exposure to British literature follows and Ben comes up with an idea.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: captured moments. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602691
Comments: 16
Kudos: 85





	a well worn book.

**Author's Note:**

> I have this like entire Professor Ben Solo storyline in my head, and I decided that instead of writing some massively long multi-chaptered story, I'd write it out in one-shots. So that's what this is. This is just the second one and hopefully, you'll want to follow along and read where this goes as I post the next stories.
> 
> And as always, if you like what you've read here, please let me know via a comment or a kudos or a bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

Ben walked into the café and the first thing he saw was Rey. She was at a table near the back, her hair was down where the other night it had been up, and he couldn't help but be struck by her beauty once again. He had a feeling that she was more beautiful than she thought she was, and he made it a personal goal to make her realize the truth.

And then he remembered her age and shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind. Besides, he didn't need his life messed up by a girl anyway.

“Ben? Are you going to just stand there?”

Ben broke himself from his thoughts to see Rose standing there, and he smiled. “I was wondering if you were one of the ones that quit on Poe.”

“Never,” Rose said, grabbing a menu. “Where do you want to sit today?”

“In the back,” Ben said. “I am not in the mood to deal with anyone else.”

“Then I know the perfect place,” Rose said, smiling at him. “Follow me.”

Ben followed her to a table in a corner along the back wall, and he thanked her for it as he sat down. Rose set the menu on the table as he arranged his bag so it was hanging off the chair, and then she spoke. “Rey will be your server since you're back here. She's new, so be nice.”

“I'm always nice,” Ben pointed out. “And I know her already. She was my server when I was in here the other night.”

“Cool,” Rose said. “What do you want to drink?”

Ben thought about it for a moment before ordering a chocolate milkshake and a glass of water. It was the weekend and he felt like living a little.

Then he thought about the fact that he thought a chocolate milkshake was living a little and realized just how much he had isolated himself from a life where he actually participated in social activities. Maybe Poe had been right. Maybe he did need to hit up a bar.

He reached into his bag and pulled out his worn copy of _Macbeth_ , and he was ten pages past where his bookmark had been when Rey approached the table. She set the milkshake and water down in front of him and smiled. 

“ _Macbeth_ , hm?”

“I like to reread the section of the book I'm going to give a lecture about before I give it,” Ben explained. “Monday's is about a particularly tricky section and I need to work out my lecture later today.”

“I've never read _Macbeth_ ,” Rey said. “One of the reasons I wanted to take your class. I don't know as much about the literature of my homeland as I wish I did.”

Ben set the book down on the table after marking his page. “Why don't you, if you don't mind me asking?”

“Because I've lived here since I was ten,” Rey said after a few moments, plastering a smile on her face. “Do you know what you want to order?”

Ben immediately realized that was a subject that Rey didn't like to talk about and he felt horrible about asking her to explain. “I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you relive whatever it was you just did there.”

Rey stood there in shock for a moment before shaking herself of it. “No one has ever apologized to me for that before.”

“They should have,” Ben murmured. “And I really am sorry.”

“It's alright,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Do you know what you want to order?”

Ben picked up the menu and looked it over quickly, found that a sandwich that he hadn't had in a while caught his eye, and then ordered it. “Tell Finn that I don't want tomatoes on it.”

Rey wrote that down and then smiled at him. “Something tells me that Finn already knows that if you know that he's the cook.”

“That's entirely possible,” Ben laughed. “I do come here a lot.”

“Poe said you told him that I did well the other night. Thank you for that.”

Ben just smiled at her. “I only told him the truth. You were great. And I'm sure you're going to be great again today too.”

Rey felt her cheeks warm. “Thank you. I'll get that sandwich out as quickly as possible.”

“There's no hurry on it,” Ben said. “I'm going to be here for a while.”

Rey nodded and then walked away, and Ben turned back to his book. Another five pages of reading reminded him that he'd have to deal with more horrible essays if he actually did the lecture that he'd been planning in his head, and he sighed heavily. He didn't want to have to read essays like that again. Ever.

Maybe he should completely change his lesson plans up.

He had a notebook and pen out of his bag before he could think about it, and he was six pages into an idea for a new lecture when Rey came back with his sandwich. He looked up at her as she set the plate down, and she smiled at him. “You read that fast.”

“Gave up on it when I realized that my students are too unintelligent to be able to understand the lecture I'd been planning to give,” Ben said, putting the pen down and pulling the plate closer to him. “The essays from the other night proved that.”

“I'm sure they're better than you think they are.”

“No, they're not,” Ben said seriously. “Trust me on that.”

“So what are you going to give your lecture about then?”

Ben took a moment to explain to her that instead of having them analyze the themes properly, he was going to find a bunch of pop culture references that incorporated things from the play. Perhaps if he correlated it to modern-day, his students would actually understand what he was trying to convey.

“That sounds really cool,” Rey said. “I'd love to know what in modern-day culture correlates to _Macbeth_. All the more reason I'm sad that I never got to take your class.”

Rey heard her name from somewhere behind her and smiled at Ben. “I'll be back to check on you in a while.”

Ben reached for his milkshake as an idea formed in his head, and he spent the entirety of eating his sandwich trying to tell himself that it was an incredibly stupid one. Once the sandwich was gone, he turned back to his new lesson plan, realized that he would need to do a little more research for this new lecture once he got home, and by the time Rey came back, he'd completely forgotten about his idea.

Well, not really, but he told himself that anyway.

“The sandwich was good,” Ben said as Rey approached him. “But there were tomatoes on it.”

Rey groaned. “I forgot to tell Finn not to put them on. I am so, so sorry, Ben. I hope that you're not allergic to them.”

“No, I'm not allergic,” Ben said, smiling at her. “And apologies are not necessary. I just thought I would point it out so that next time, you'll remember.”

“I'm going to lose my job over this.”

“No, you're not,” Ben said firmly. “You are hardly the first server in the history of the world to forget to say something like that. Besides, I'm not going to complain about it to anyone. It can be our little secret.”

Rey smiled at that. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” Ben said as Rey picked up the empty plate. “You're doing great, Rey.”

“Everyone keeps trying to tell me that, but I'm just not sure,” Rey said.

“Listen to them, especially Poe. He wouldn't lie to you about it. He'd just put more effort into your training.”

Rey nodded. “I'll try. I'll be back with your check in a moment then.”

“Thank you, Rey,” Ben said, and she walked away. 

Rey came back a few moments later and placed the check onto the table. “You are the one who gave me the massive tip the other night, right?”

Ben nodded. “You deserved it.”

“I really didn't,” Rey said seriously. “But thank you for that. It put me over the edge of being able to pay my rent this month.”

Ben's idea came back to the forefront of his mind. “Well, I'm glad that it helped. And I hope that you working here means that you won't be cutting it so close next time.”

“Me too,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Thanks for coming in, Ben. I'll hopefully see you next time.”

Ben sat there as she walked away, told himself yet again that this was an incredibly stupid idea that he needed to stop immediately, and then he reached for his wallet. He pulled out something, wrote out a quick note, wrapped it up in the note, and grabbed his copy of _Macbeth_ and put it inside. He flipped to a different page of the notebook, wrote out another quick note, and folded it up. He placed that note on top of the book, grabbed his stuff, paid the bill, and left.

Rey went over to the table to clear it after Ben had left, and she noticed the book lying there. At first, she thought that she would just put it behind the register until the next time that Ben came in, but then she saw the note with her name on it on top of it. She grabbed the paper and unfolded it, and then she let her eyes scan through it.

_For the Brit who didn't get to take Brit Lit. I won't make you write an essay on this, but if you haven't read_ Macbeth, _then you need to read it. Have this copy. I can get another. And there's a surprise in it, so don't look through it until you're home._

__

__

Rey smiled at his words, picked up the book, and placed it into her apron's pocket. She finished clearing the table and went back to work. 

When she was home, she pulled the book from her bag and sat down on her sofa, looking at it and realizing just how many times Ben must have read it given the condition that it was in. She opened it up and began to flip through the pages, and another note fell out. Rey picked it up and unfolded it, and her eyes widened when she saw a hundred-dollar bill inside of it. She quickly turned her attention to the note, and Ben's words made her smile.

_So you can go buy some famous British literature of your own. Be sure to tell me about them when you get them read._

Rey smiled and held the note to her chest for a moment, trying to think of how she'd ever be able to thank Ben for his kindness. Then she set the note and money on her coffee table, picked the book back up, and turned to the first page.

Perhaps the best way to thank Ben was to actually do what he asked her to. The next time she saw him, she'd be able to talk to him about the book, and that might make the professor of British literature happy. 

Rey thought about how gorgeous Ben was for a moment, realized that a guy like him would never go for her, and shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind. There was absolutely no reason to think about that whatsoever. Besides, a guy like Ben probably had a wife at home. Maybe even a small child. 

Yeah, there was absolutely no reason to think about that.

Rey turned her concentration to the book, focused her eyes on the page, and began to read.


End file.
